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Steven Loomis (SaigonShipyard), IC3
to remember
Rommel, Herbert Fox, Jr. ("Herb"), CAPT USN(Ret).
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Contact Info
Home Town Lansdowne, PA
Date of Passing Jun 10, 2007
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
His main career and passion were with the Navy, and he was a well-known veteran and sailor. Rommel enlisted in the Naval Reserve in 1934 as an apprentice seaman and was commissioned as an ensign in 1938. He reported for active duty aboard the battleship USS Oklahoma in 1940. He was on board the Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941, preparing to attend a pistol match when he heard the explosions. "I went to see what was going on," Rommel said in an interview published in Newport Life Magazine. "As I reached the deck, I saw a plane with bright red balls beneath its wings fly right over me. The officer of the deck sounded air defense on the bugle. I ran aft toward the turret. On the way, I grabbed the intercom and announced over the loudspeaker, "This is a real air raid. This is no (expletive deleted)." Rommel went on to serve aboard the USS Gridley for the next three years of the war. During his war service, he collected 12 battle stars and a Bronze Star with combat "V". He was promoted until he became the commander of the USS Wilkes at the end of the war. "That was the most damn fun I ever had," Rommel told friends. He was one of only four Naval Reserve officers to command a destroyer during World War II. He broke the tradition that only regular Navy men were allowed to drive. He first came to Newport after the war to attend General Line School, "to learn what I should have known during the war," he later said. After officers school, he became commanding officer of Naval Station Washington, D.C. During the next two decades, he commanded five different ships and enjoyed four tours of duty in Newport. He retired in 1969.
Other Comments:
USS HERBERT (DD-160): Seaman USNR - 1934-1937
USS Oklahoma (BB-37): Ensign - Commanding No 4 Turret Division - 1940-1941
USS GRIDLEY (DD-380): Commissary Officer / Navigator / Executive Officer - 1942-1944
USS WILKES (DD-441): Command - 1945-1946
GENERAL LINE SCHOOL, Newport - 1946
USS BURKE (DE-215/APD 65): Command - 1947 - 1948
NAVAL WAR COLLEGE, Newport: Pupil - 1949
GENERAL LINE SCHOOL (USN): Staff - 1950
USS HAYNSWORTH (DD-700): Command - 1950 - 1952
OP NAV (STRATEGIC PLANS DIVISION): Staff - 1953
USS WORCESTER (CL-144): Executive Officer - 1954 - 1955
NAVAL WAR COLLEGE, Newport: Staff - 1956-1960
USS AMPHION (AR-13): Command - 1960-1961 CINCLANTFLEET: Staff - 1962 USS HYADES (AF-28): Command - 1962-1963
NAVAL STATION, Washington DC: Commander - 1963-1966
NAVAL STATION, Newport: Chief of Staff - 1967-1969
World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater/Attack on Pearl Harbor
From Month/Year
December / 1941
To Month/Year
December / 1941
Description The attack on Pearl Harbor, also known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor, the Hawaii Operation or Operation AI by the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters, and Operation Z during planning, was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory, on the morning of December 7, 1941. The attack led to the United States' entry into World War II.
Japan intended the attack as a preventive action to keep the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with military actions the Empire of Japan planned in Southeast Asia against overseas territories of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States. Over the next seven hours there were coordinated Japanese attacks on the U.S.-held Philippines, Guam and Wake Island and on the British Empire in Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
The attack commenced at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian Time. The base was attacked by 353 Imperial Japanese fighter planes, bombers, and torpedo planes in two waves, launched from six aircraft carriers. All eight U.S. Navy battleships were damaged, with four sunk. All but Arizona were later raised, and six were returned to service and went on to fight in the war. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship, and one minelayer. 188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed; 2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 others were wounded. Important base installations such as the power station, shipyard, maintenance, and fuel and torpedo storage facilities, as well as the submarine piers and headquarters building (also home of the intelligence section) were not attacked. Japanese losses were light: 29 aircraft and five midget submarines lost, and 64 servicemen killed. One Japanese sailor, Kazuo Sakamaki, was captured.
The attack came as a profound shock to the American people and led directly to the American entry into World War II in both the Pacific and European theaters. The following day, December 8, the United States declared war on Japan. Domestic support for non-interventionism, which had been fading since the Fall of France in 1940,[19] disappeared. Clandestine support of the United Kingdom (e.g., the Neutrality Patrol) was replaced by active alliance. Subsequent operations by the U.S. prompted Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy to declare war on the U.S. on December 11, which was reciprocated by the U.S. the same day.
From the 1950s, several writers alleged that parties high in the U.S. and British governments knew of the attack in advance and may have let it happen (or even encouraged it) with the aim of bringing the U.S. into war. However, this advance-knowledge conspiracy theory is rejected by mainstream historians.
There were numerous historical precedents for unannounced military action by Japan. However, the lack of any formal warning, particularly while negotiations were still apparently ongoing, led President Franklin D. Roosevelt to proclaim December 7, 1941, "a date which will live in infamy". Because the attack happened without a declaration of war and without explicit warning, the attack on Pearl Harbor was judged by the Tokyo Trials to be a war crime.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
December / 1941
To Month/Year
December / 1941
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories Ensign Rommall reported for active duty aboard the battleship USS Oklahoma in 1940. He was on board the Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941, preparing to attend a pistol match when he heard the explosions. "I went to see what was going on," Rommel said in an interview published in Newport Life Magazine. "As I reached the deck, I saw a plane with bright red balls beneath its wings fly right over me. The officer of the deck sounded air defense on the bugle. I ran aft toward the turret. On the way, I grabbed the intercom and announced over the loudspeaker, "This is a real air raid. This is no (expletive deleted)."
